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Palm oil is an ingredient used to make products for brands like Unilever, Mondelez, and Nestlé. It is in items such as shampoo, and in many foods also. Read the labels on foods and sweets, and you will be amazed! Greenpeace have produced a superb and simple message in a Christmas video which the supermarket chain, Iceland, wanted to air on TV. One problem - it has been banned from our TV screens! As part of its festive campaign the discount supermarket struck a deal with Greenpeace to rebadge an animated short film featuring an orangutan and the destruction of its rainforest habitat at the hands of palm oil growers. The reason? It is too political!! Palm Oil is big business and is being harvested from the destruction of the world's rain forests, being replaced by huge plantations of palm oil - the reason why it is often called 'dirty palm oil'. Big international companies like Here you can watch the Greenpeace video, and hopefully pass on to friends, family and work colleagues to watch also. This message must be promoted and publicised because the destruction of our forests across the world is a crime against Earth and all animals, including the animal called 'Human'!
Clearcast, the private body responsible for vetting ads before they are broadcast to the public, said it was in breach of rules banning political advertising laid down by the 2003 Communications Act. More specifically the private company Clearcast, applies the rules of the The UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code) to all advertisements intent for broadcast on TV, Cinema, and also in-print media via the Non-Broadcast Code of Practice. It is also supportive of advertisement companies whose adverts are subject to complaints via the Advertisement Standards Authority (ASA). The company is owned by British TV companies: ITV, ITV Breakfast, Channel 4, Channel Five, British Sky Broadcasting and Turner. So, this Greenpeace Advertisement has been banned effectively by a private business organisation. But in whose interest? Certainly not in the public interest! The term "political" is used in the BCAP Code in a wider sense than "party political". The prohibition includes, for example, campaigning for the purposes of influencing legislation or executive action by local or national (including foreign) governments. The relevant parts of the code can be downloaded from this website here Greenpeace have a petition you can sign intended to put pressure on companies not to use palm oil sourced from deforestation methods: sign up here The Guardian reported: '“This was a film that Greenpeace made with a voice over by Emma Thompson,” said Iceland’s founder, Malcolm Walker. “We got permission to use it and take off the Greenpeace logo and use it as the Iceland Christmas ad. It would have blown the John Lewis ad out of the window. It was so emotional.” Iceland will still be placing TV ads, but only 10-second clips that will highlight palm oil-free products. Richard Walker, Malcolm’s son is quoted as saying: “We wanted [the Greenpeace film] to be our signature campaign,” said, who has led Iceland’s switch to environmental campaigning. “We have said repeatedly we are not anti-palm oil, we are anti-deforestation. “We think this is a huge story that needs to be told. We always knew there was a risk [the clip would not be cleared for TV] but we gave it our best shot.” Source: Greenpeace / ASA / The Guardian
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One of the worst disasters for our planet is deforestation. Rain forests are the lungs of the Earth, as are all forests around the world. But greedy companies are destroying them at a rate which some believe will spell disaster for human life, not to mention the animals and plants which form part of the Earth's ecology.